Set your home up for the future: modernise with a Vaillant heat pump.

Yes, heat pumps can work efficiently in older buildings. Especially if they have been renovated to optimise energy efficiency and have underfloor heating. As a general rule: the higher the degree of modernisation, the more we recommend the use of a heat pump. A good first step into the world of renewable heating can also be a hybrid system in which the heat pump and gas condensing boiler work hand in hand.

We recommend combining a heat pump with an underfloor heating. A heat pump is more efficient when the flow temperature is as low as possible. This is the case with large heating surfaces, such as underfloor heating. However, it is possible to combine radiators with a heat pump. You can clarify with your architect or installer on site whether this combination is worth it. If your heating surfaces are not sufficient for a heat pump alone, a good first step into the world of renewable heating can be a hybrid heating system. Here the heat pump and gas condensing boiler work hand in hand.

Inside your house, you need enough space for the indoor unit of the heat pump and for the hot water cylinder. The space required for the outdoor unit depends on your selected energy source. With air source heat pumps, the outdoor unit is sited in the garden or directly at the building wall – with a minimum distance to neighbouring buildings and property boundary lines. In case of geothermal heat pumps or groundwater heat pumps (ground-source heat pumps), the collectors lay in the ground.

Vaillant heat pumps are as quiet as a whisper, making them some of quietest on the market. This means that the external unit of our heat pump can be easily installed in terraced houses with strict soundproofing requirements.

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Yes, an air source heat pump can reverse its process and actively cool. Instead of extracting heat from the outside air and thus heating the rooms, it releases the heat from the rooms into the environment. With active cooling, you can reduce your room temperature by up to 3 °C. But be aware: not every underfloor heating system is suitable. It’s best to ask your local Vaillant installer about this.

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COP (coefficient of performance) and SCOP (seasonal coefficient of performance) show how efficiently a heat pump works. They are the most important ratios for the efficiency of a heat pump. And are calculated based on the thermal energy generated by the heat pump divided by the electric power used for the heat pump operation.

For instance, if your heat pump provides 12 kW output and consumes 3 kW current to do so, your COP will be 12 / 3 = 4. The COP results from a highly simplified calculation with assumed values. This ratio is used to compare the efficiency of different heat pumps. The higher the COP is, the lower is the electric power consumption of the heat pump.

The SCOP follows the same principle. However, it considers the entire year with all existing temperature variations. Therefore, it can be calculated only in retrospect. Your installed heat pump will show a different SCOP for every year – depending on your usage pattern and the weather conditions. A mild winter, for example, will result in a significantly better SCOP than a long and hard winter with many cold days and temperatures below 0°C.

We distinguish heat pumps according to the type of heat source used.

The most commonly used heat pump in modernisation projects is the air-source heat pump. It uses heat from the ambient air. This type is so popular because there are no major development costs for the ground.

Ground-source heat pumps use the environmental heat stored in the ground. They can only be used in combination with a water-based heat distribution system like radiators or underfloor heating. That’s why they are also called brine-to-water heat pumps. If you want to achieve high flow temperatures efficiently in your modernisation, this type is a good choice.

Water-source heat pumps use the heat contained in the groundwater. They require a well. Here, the groundwater is extracted via a suction pump from the extraction well and fed into the heat pump.